Coldest Place Right Now

Nearly minus 100 degrees Celsius researchers discover coldest place in the world

06/27/2018, 3:24 PM Chinese Antarctic expedition on its way to Dome Argus to establish an Antarctic station in 2008, where the lowest temperatures ever recorded on the Earth’s surface were recorded. (Photo: imago stock&people) When you think of extremely low temperatures, the first place you usually think of is Siberia. But there is a region on Earth where the thermometer drops even much lower. Using satellite data, researchers find the coldest place on earth. It was almost 90 years ago that Upper Bavaria recorded the lowest temperature ever measured in Germany. On February 12, 1929, the thermometer in Wolnzach dropped to minus 37.8 degrees Celsius. While this is unimaginably cold, it is rather mild compared to the coldest place on earth – which researchers from the University of Colorado claim to have discovered. The Earth’s coldest pole is located in the most hostile of all regions: the plateau in the east of Antarctica. In 2013, the team led by scientist Ted Scambos had already identified temperatures of up to minus 93 degrees Celsius in the East Antarctic Plateau based on satellite data. In a further analysis of data records from 2004 to 2016, the researchers have now discovered that surface temperatures in small valleys in this area even drop to minus 98 degrees Celsius. And that’s at around 100 different locations. They published their findings in the Geophysical Research Letters.

Existing record wobbles

These record temperatures were measured directly on the ice by the MODIS infrared spectrometer on board the Terra satellite. They are therefore not comparable with air temperatures measured by a weather station and are not recognized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) as an official cold record. According to the WMO, this record is 89.2 degrees Celsius and was measured on July 21, 1983, at the Russian Vostok research station in Antarctica – at a height of two meters above the ground. Scambos and his colleagues recorded their absolute cold record in East Antarctica for 2004 – in the middle of the Southern Hemisphere’s polar night, during which the sun does not rise for months in some cases. The temperature dropped to an icy minus 98.6 degrees Celsius on July 23, 2004. According to the researchers’ calculations, the air temperature at this and similar cold spots should then be around minus 94 degrees Celsius.

Natural temperature limit?

Temperatures on Earth probably can’t get much lower: “The record of minus 98 degrees Celsius is probably the coldest that can occur at the Earth’s surface,” Scambos told the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Indeed, it was striking that at several points in a large area, temperatures did not fall much below minus 98 degrees Celsius. Researchers therefore suspect that there is something like a natural temperature limit for the Earth’s surface. But why does it actually get so incredibly cold there? Until now, researchers had identified clear skies on the one hand and light winds on the other as the cause of the icy cold in the highlands of East Antarctica. What they have now discovered: The air there also has to be extremely dry, because water vapor curbs heat loss from the snow surface. “In this area, we observe periods of incredibly dry air. This allows the heat from the snow surface to radiate more easily into space,” Scambos said. This makes Antarctica the undisputed leader in low temperatures on Earth. The coldest temperature record in the northern hemisphere is “only” minus 67.8 degrees Celsius, measured in the village of Oimjakon in Russia’s Far East. This is also where the coldest inhabited area on earth is located. However, Antarctica can be more than just very cold: The “heat record” is almost 18 degrees Celsius, measured on April 24, 2015 at the Argentine research station Esperanza. Almost bathing weather already. Source: ntv.de TOPICS

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Kühnhaide weather

Since many decades hobby meteorologist Peter Weiße measures the temperatures in Kühnhaide. For this purpose he uses a professional weather station which costs about 2.000,- €. In 2012, the weather expert Jörg Kachelmann became aware of the extreme minus temperatures. He traveled with reporters from SpiegelTV on February 12, 2012, to report on the frigid -31°C. He also published videos on Youtube. Kachelmann set up his own weather station the same year. It was found that not Deutschneudorf-Brüderwiese (near Seiffen) and Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz (in Vogtland) are the coldest places in Saxony, as before, but the small Marienberg district of Kühnhaide. Almost every year it gets colder than -30°C. Kühnhaide is even considered to be the coldest inhabited place in the Federal Republic of Germany. The temperatures of the weather station scroll at the weather report of the MDR television every day as Marienberg-Kühnhaide through. They are also often shown on ARD and ZDF. Around the clock you can see the temperatures on our website. On January 15, 2013 we from kuehnhaide.de started to publish and archive the temperatures on the Internet. On the home page you can see the temperatures of each day back to that date. The blue line shows the lows, the orange line the highs of the day. So you can see that record lows are mostly measured in January. However, February and March can also be similarly cold. Every year around December 26, the Christmas thaw can be seen as a clear upward swing. If the low and high are far apart, it was a sunny day. If both values are close together, the weather was dull and foggy.

Cold records

At every season there are cold records in Kühnhaide. Be it -29°C like in January 2016, -6.4°C in the middle of May 2020 when all deciduous trees dropped their leaves again or when the first frost came to Kühnhaide already on August 11 and 12, 2016 and 2018. Of course, there are alpine high valleys where it can be even colder. But nobody lives there. And that is the fascination of Kühnhaide: more than 500 people live here and here you can also stay overnight as a tourist. Not being able to sleep well because the nights are too hot – but not in Kühnhaide. Pleasant, cool, clear mountain air let everyone sleep well through the night. Winter Kühnhaide with ground frost Coldest inhabited place in Germany cold hole Kühnhaide near Marienberg

But why is Kühnhaide in the Ore Mountains the coldest inhabited place in Germany?

It is due to its special location. Kühnhaide is located in the Schwarzwassertal valley, which narrows so much towards the valley that it almost closes off the flow of air. There are mountains in all directions, thus creating a cold hole. And this at an altitude of 710 – 750 m above sea level. Especially during windless, cloudless nights it gets bitterly cold in Kühnhaide. Also in summer – therefore every month with ground frost is to be expected. It is always coldest shortly before sunrise. Warmest is about 4 hours before sunset, therefore in summer mostly between 17:00 and 18:00. Destinations

Icy! These are the coldest villages and cities in the world

When the days are dull and gray and the temperatures drop in winter, you should be aware of one thing: Elsewhere, it’s even colder. We present the most frozen cities in the world. Continue reading after ad In 2021, it is expected to turn white in Germany even before the meteorological start of winter: On the edge of the Alps, meteorologist Jürgen Schmidt expects around one meter of fresh snow this weekend, he told RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland. “The weekend and Monday will be cold and wet,” Schmidt said. Doesn’t exactly sound like a white winter wonderland. Our German winters can already hit the mind. With the gray dreariness and uncomfortable temperatures, many of us are shifted to the sofa with a blanket. It’s a different story elsewhere in the world – for example, in the cities with the most extreme sub-zero temperatures in the world. Are they good for a trip? Decide for yourself. Despite the white magic, life there is not always a bed of roses.

1. Oimjakon in Siberia

Around 500 inhabitants live in Oimjakon, a village in Siberia in eastern Russia. It is considered the coldest inhabited place on earth, and 2900 kilometers separate it from the North Pole. At its absolute cold peak, minus 67.8 degrees were measured here, and the average temperature in winter is minus 45 degrees. Even a hot bath, as we like to enjoy in winter, is not easily possible in Oimjakon, because there is no running water. If you want to wash yourself, thaw a block of ice. A sleigh ride with reindeer in the surroundings of Oimjakon is an ice-cold pleasure.

2 Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan

Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana), the capital of Kazakhstan, is three things: futuristic, ostentatious and cold. The rivers here are frozen from mid-November to April, and Nur-Sultan is considered the frostiest capital in the world. A freezing cold of minus 52 degrees has already been documented and the average temperature in winter is minus 15 degrees. Due to its location in the humid continental climate zone, Kazakhstan’s second largest city is subject to strong temperature fluctuations. Thus, after long winters, it becomes warm and dry in summer. Winter dream: The Nur-Astana Mosque in Nur-Sultan, the coldest capital city in the world. Read more after viewing

3. Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia

Severe frost dominates the winter months in Ulan-Bator (also known as Ulaanbaatar or Ulan-Batar). For seven months, cold temperatures of up to minus 30 degrees prevail here, in the capital of Mongolia. Frosty peak: minus 42 degrees. With 1.3 million inhabitants, the city is home to almost half the population of the entire country. Besides the attribute of being one of the coldest cities in the world, Ulaanbaatar holds another sad record. Due to the still widespread method of heating with wood and coal, it is one of the dirtiest cities in the world. Ulan-Bator shows up in winter freezing cold and under a cloud of smog.

4. Winnipeg in Canada

In the capital of the Canadian province of Manitoba, average temperatures stay below freezing for a full five months of the year. Winnipeg, called “The Peg” by its inhabitants, is also the hometown of Winnie-the-Pooh – and in winter the thermometer here likes to read minus 30 degrees. The city’s 660,000 residents live and breathe the cold: Every year, there is an art and architecture competition called Warming Huts, in which designers from all over the world present the best ideas for warming huts in the cold. View of a curling tournament on the frozen Red River against the skyline of downtown Winnipeg.

5. Utqiagvik (Barrow) in Alaska

Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) is the northernmost town in the USA. The name of the town means “the place where we hunt snowy owls” in the Inupiat language, indicating the uncomfortable temperatures. Inhospitable winds and low temperatures of up to 49 degrees below zero characterize the place on the Arctic Ocean. {{title}} {{#items}} {{#isAd}} Display {{/isAd}} {{title}} {{/items}} Utqiagvik is home to just over 4000 residents and the largest Eskimo community in Alaska. The traditional hunt for whales and seals is as much a part of everyday life as a bright summer: from May 10 to 2. August the sun does not set here. Utqiagvik offers winter devotees some highlights. Impressive ice worlds and sunsets are just two of them.

6. International Falls in the USA

The town of International Falls in Minnesota on the border with Canada titles itself the nation’s freezer. (Granted, Fraser in Colorado also claims that title.) Record minus temperatures of up to minus 48 degrees speak for themselves. The northern Minnesota city also sees heavy snowfall in the winter, and the average temperature in January is minus 15 degrees. It is not until spring that the ice on the Rainy River slowly thaws. The river separates International Falls from the Canadian city of Fort Frances.

7. Helsinki in Finland

Finland’s capital Helsinki is one of Europe’s freezers. Minus 34.3 degrees were measured here in January 1987. Helsinki’s winters are long, snowy and windy, and February is considered the coldest month of the year. This is what you call hardened: a man ice bathing in winter. Winter reigns with darkness and harsh temperatures, and regularly the Baltic Sea freezes over here. The Finns use the minus temperatures for their purposes. Skating on the Baltic Sea, skiing in the park and – for the very intrepid – ice bathing. Coldest Place Right Now.

Anna Hein

Coldest Place Right Now